Randell sets sights on new court appeal
Disgraced attorney seeks bail extension in next bid to avoid starting jail sentence
IT was the harsh words of a judge – mendacious, dishonest and unreliable – that led disgraced attorney Michael Randell to appeal against his fraud conviction in the Grahamstown High Court. He argued that the words were a clear sign that he had been prejudged. His beliefs, however, held no sway, with his appeal being turned down.
Randell’s appeal took place in September, with Judges Mandela Makaula and Thami Beshe reserving judgment.
That is, until Thursday, when they dismissed his appeal and subsequently effected the fouryear prison sentence handed down to him for defrauding Port Elizabeth school Greenwood Primary of R2.4-million.
However, the September appeal will not be Randell’s final attempt at freedom, as his attorney, Dean Murray, said Randell would be back in the Grahamstown High Court today to petition for a further bail extension so his defence team can apply for leave to appeal at the Supreme Court.
“We were notified of the latest judgment on Friday, and he was given until Thursday to report to start serving his sentence,” Murray said.
“However, we will be back in the high court tomorrow [today] to petition against the judgment, to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal, and also have his bail extended.”
Randell was sentenced in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court by magistrate Khamdilizine Nqadala in July last year to six years’ imprisonment, of which two were suspended. However, his bail was extended after Nqadala granted him leave to appeal against his conviction.
In September, Randell’s attorney argued that the fraud and theft trial was unfair.
His counsel, Laurence Hodes SC, argued that the earlier judgment in terms of which Randell was struck from the roll of attorneys had tainted his subsequent criminal trial.
That particular judgment had followed legal proceedings brought by the Law Society of the Cape of Good Hope in 2015.
Hodes argued that the magistrate in the criminal trial had been influenced by Judge Sytze Alkema’s judgment in the law society case in 2015, in which he had found on a balance of probabilities that Randell was inherently dishonest and fraudulent.
The appeal judgment court papers released on Thursday read: “The magistrate, before quoting extensively from the judgment of Alkema J, dealt prominently with whether the appellant was a credible and honest witness.
“The court a quo [trial court] made its credibility findings independently of Alkema J’s judgment.”
The appeal judges found each attack on Randell’s character to be reasoned and not baseless.
They also found that the portions of Alkema’s judgment relied on by the magistrate primarily dealt with Randell’s fiduciary duties to the school in his various capacities.
“Even if the references to Alkema J’s judgment may be excised from the judgment, the conviction of the appellant would remain correct . . . I therefore find there are no irregularities or material misdirections which merit the interference or setting aside of the judgment of the court a quo,” the court papers read.
Randell, of Thornhill, was found guilty of the fraud committed while serving on the school governing body between 1999 and 2006. He acted in concert with former principal Patrick Shelver and governing body head Michel Lascot, who has since died.
Shelver received a fully suspended sentence after pleading guilty to his role in the fraud.
Nqadala said Randell had worn many hats as the school’s legal adviser and member of its governing body, and in particular as the one who drew up the fraudulent trust deed – to purchase a property opposite the school – which saw the men each pocket about R1-million meant for the school’s benefit.